3G /4G CCTV

Here is a quick guide to using a 3G or 4G Router for your CCTV installation to provide remote access to your CCTV Camera and DVR equipment.

The Simple Tried and Tested Way

If you use a 3G/4G router with a Fixed IP SIM Card you will have a router, with an Internet connection with a fixed, public IP address.

Just like any router with an Internet connection with a fixed, public IP address you can now connect to the router from anywhere on the Internet and use port forwarding to connect to your devices on the LAN.

All you have to do is decide mow much inclusive data you will need per month, decide whether you want slower 3G or faster 4G Internet speeds and determine which mobile network has good coverage in the location that you intend to install your router and Fixed IP SIM. Give us a call when you have decided and we can send you the contract to complete and return and you will receive your SIM card within a few days.

Then choose your 3G/4G router (most customers will use something like the GEM420) and add to basket ande checkout online and get next working day delivery for hardware ordered by 3:00PM.

That's it - when you have your SIM card and router, insert the SIM, make a few configuration settings to get your router connected to the fixed IP mobile network and configure your router security and port forwarding settings and you have access to your CCTV DVR and Cameras.

The biggest question we get asked is how much data will be used - that will depend upon the codecs and streaming quality configuration set in your CCTV DVR equipment and how often you use it and whether it is on demand or whether your DVR updates content to a central server - your CCTV hardware provider should be able to give you some advise about how much bandwidth the equipment will use per hour of video streaming and you can work it out from there. You can increase your data allowance during your contract term but can't decrease it and any increase only takes effect the following month. You will get free access to the SIM Portal so you can monitor usage and set email alerts but the fixed IP SIM will not automatiocally cut-off when a data limit is reached - you will just be charged for the extra data usage.

3G and 4G Routers for CCTV

The majority of our 3G and 4G routers will be suitable for use with your CCTV installation and we have included links below to the most popular and recommended products.

However.......

It is not just a case of purchasing a router and inserting a SIM card becuase in most cases a normal mobile data SIM card purchased directly from the UK networks will not enable you to connect remotely to your router or the attached CCTV equipment.

Remote Connection To 3G/4G Router

How Can I Remotely Connect To My 3G / 4G Router?

In order to connect to your 3G/4G router over the Internet you will need to know the PUBLIC WAN IP address of the router - however this is not always as easy as it sounds

1. Use a Fixed IP SIM Card

This is the easiest way to connect to your router and connected devices because the router is allocated a FIXED IP ADDRESS from your mobile service provider - in most cases fixed IP SIM card services are only available from an MVNO (Mobile Virtual network Operator) who have interconnect services with the main mobile networks and offer the Fixed IP element as part of their service.

THIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT NORMALLY GET A FIXED IP ADRESS IF YOU OBTAIN YOUR SIM CARD DIRECTLY FROM THE FOUR MAIN MOBILE NETWORKS IE. VODAFONE, O2, EE & THREE

There are two types of Fixed IP SIM card services available

1. Public Fixed IP SIM - This means that you can connect to the router and connected devices from any computer connected to the Internet providing a convenient and easy to use service.2. Private Fixed IP SIM - In order to access your router and connected devices you will first need to create a VPN from your PC/network to your Fixed IP SIM card provider and only when the VPN is established will you be able to access your router/devices.

2. DYNDNS (DYNAMIC DNS) / DDNS)

Many 3G and 4G router users would like to use DYNDNS to access their routers because this means they can take advantage of low cost data plans direct from the main UK mobile networks - however most mobile networks now use CG NAT (Carrier Grade NAT) to provide IP addresses which means that the WAN IP address allocated to the router is a PRIVATE IP address on the mobile operators internal network so the Public IP address that you might see when you visit www.showmyip.co.uk will be one of the mobile networks public IP addresses but the mobile operator will have hundreds of devices using each public IP address which is why you will be unable to connect to your device. You can research this further by searching the internet for "4G CGNAT".

THE MAIN 4G NETWORKS DO NOT PROVIDE SINGLE PUBLIC IP ADDRESSES WHICH MEANS DYNDNS WILL NOT WORK

ONLY THREE MOBILE PROVIDE PUBLIC IP ADDRESSES BUT ONLY ON THEIR 3G CONNECTIONS AND THIS IS NOT A GUARANTEED SERVICE

3. VPN

Once you realise that you can't use DYNDNS after researching CGNAT you might not want to use a Fixed IP provider and want to explore alternative ways of connecting to your router.

As long as your 3G/4G router has built-in VPN services then you can configure the router as a VPN CLIENT so once it has established a 3G/4G connection it will then connect to a VPN SERVER which could be your router at head office which would enable you to create a WAN (Wide Area Network) - this would enable you to connect to your router and devices over the VPN - this solution might be fine for a couple of remote locations but once you start to have tens or hundreds of remote locations then you would need to ensure that your VPN server is capable of managing the WAN infrastructure.

YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR VPN SERVER CAN BE CONFIGURED TO ACCEPT INBOUND CONNECTIONS WITHOUT A FIXED IP ADDRESS - because your connection will have a different router WAN IP address to the router PUBLIC IP address - (remember the CGNAT).

It is an embedded 4G router that also works with 3G and will provide an always on / always available 3G / 4G connection to enable remote access to your on-site DVR / CCTV equipment.

If using a Fixed IP SIM card ten it is simple to install and just use port forwarding to connect to your devices on the LAN, and if you need to use Dynamic DNS then the GEM420 will support this (as long as your mobile network provides you with a puclic IP address). The proroute GEM420 provides extra options to ensure that you can always stay connected:-

Dual SIM - router will switch to second SIM in the event primary network unavailableUSB - you can connect a 3G / 4G USB modem and use this as a back up and can even set the GEM420 in load balancing mode so it will use both connections at the same timeWAN Failover - connect the WAN port of the GEM420 to another router (ADSL / Satellite / 3G/4G) and use the GEM 420 in failover mode if the WAN connection ceomnes unavailable and you can even use this WAN connection as part of the Load Balancing so you can use all three WAN connections at the same timePING REBOOT - 3G/4G is not an always on connection - it is an always available service which means that the mobile provider will disconnect your router - Ping Reboot / Cell ICMP check will monitor your 3G/4G connection and when the network drops the router will reboot and re-establish the connection - saving you a trip to site to power cycle the routerSMS REBOOT - if your connection is lost and the auto ping reboot has not worked then you can send an SMS message to the router and tell it to reboot - you can also get an SMS status and turn on/off the 3G / 4G connectionWiFi - Wireless connectivity making it ideal for easy on-site configurationVPN - IPSEC / PPTP tunnels - acts as client or serverFIREWALL - secure SPI firewall means that you can control who accesses your router and port forwarding for easy connectivity to your devices on the LANREMOTE MANAGEMENT - you can configure the GEM420 to only accept remote management from a specific IP address to prevent unauthorised access.

The GEM420 is a great value, multi-functional router for your CCTV installation.

Delivery Info

Our standard carriage charge is £8.00 per order for mainland UK. Next working day delivery for orders placed by 3:00PM FREE DELIVERY FOR ONLINE ORDERS OVER £300.00 (Mainland UK Only)We only ship within the EU.